I know this student, I am actually the mom to one of these students and once again why didn't I stumble upon this information sooner. My procrastinator thinks he is not smart, thinks his friends are all smarter than him and this article sheds some light on one reason he may procrastinate in some subjects. I know it was the culprit in Physics Junior year. The title of this post is the title of an article I came across in Education Week. Evie Blad states that: "Some students engage in so-called self-handicapping behaviors not because they don't care. Rather, those students care a great deal about success and they are trying to protect themselves from the negative emotions they might feel if they fail at an academic task. So they put off studying for the big test, giving themselves an excuse in advance for a low score. And they might not always realize why they are doing it." Do we want to engage in an activity that is going to make us feel bad about ourselves, no. I know I tend to avoid activities that are going to frustrate me. Not practicing, not studying gives you an excuse up front for failure. An athlete might not practice as hard, well of course I lost I didn't practice. "Students are more likely to self-handicap if they perceive an outcome as certain when it's actually uncertain. The combination of a low sense of control (inability to do well on a test) over a situation and a high regard for the outcome (wanting a high score) can lead to a fear of failure." Boy do I know this kid, he sits in my room every year. Sometimes there are more than one of them. I usually catch on, but sometimes I do just think they are lazy or unmotivated. Then I feel really bad once I realize that this is their coping mechanism. So what do we do as teachers? The article brings up Growth Mindset and the movement towards encouraging students to learn from their mistakes, normalize failure. Students won't be so scared if they know it is OK to fail they will have a chance to learn from the mistakes and succeed. What do you think? Does this describe your child? Students, do you think you do this? Teachers is this kid sitting in your class. I look forward to approaching this student in a different way this year, maybe sitting them down and talking to them about what I have observed. I'll let you all know how it unfolds.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Mrs. JonesEducator Archives
September 2017
Categories
All
|